Giuseppe Garibaldi

Giuseppe Garibaldi

"The Sword" of Italian Unification

"My goal, which was, I believe, shared by most italians at that time, was to unite the country and rid it of foreign powers. Those who gave Italy her freedom would earn her people's gratitude" (Garibaldi, page 6). During the age of Italian unification, there were three men who fought for her (Italy's) freedom. Those men were Cavour the brains, Mazzini the soul, and Garibaldi the sword (Chastain).

Giuseppe Garibaldi was born in Nice in 1807 (Garibaldi, page 173). He spent his life working towards not only Italian unification, but that of France and South America. He is considered by many to be the "Hero of two worlds" (Chastain). He spent most of his complex life on the run from political zealots fighting battles anywhere and everywhere volunteers supported his cause. His is a great leader in all aspects of the framework provided by Kouzes and Posner. With his deep passion for freedom, Garibaldi was a selfless man devoted for the cause, who fought with his soldiers on the field, and met with kings in his spare time. His life is filled with much tragedy including illness and wounds, death, jail, exile, and much, much mutiny and betrayal. A sentence of death was put on his life, but never carried out.

The following paper presents a critical analysis of the leadership qualities of Giuseppe Garibaldi following the framework provided in The Leader Challenge, by Kouzes and Posner. The outline for analysis is presented below:

Model the way

Find your voice by clarifying your personal values

Set the example by aligning actions with shared values

Inspire a shared vision

Envision the future by imagining exiting and ennobling possibilities

Enlist others in a common vision by appealing to shared aspirations

Challenge the process

Search for opportunities by seeking innovating ways to change and grow, and improve.

Experiment and take risk by constantly generating small wins and learning from mistakes.

Enable other to act

Foster collaboration by promoting cooperative goals and building trust.

Strengthen others by sharing power and discretion.

Encourage the heart

Recognize contribution by showing appreciation for individual excellence.

Celebrate the values and victories by creating a spirit of community.

Using the above analysis we will attempt to put in perspective the qualities of Giuseppe which make him an exemplary leader.

Model the way

After reading Giuseppe's autobiography is it clear that he doesn't clarify his personal values often. Most of his account of twenty years of battle is more epic in nature, and includes many negative interactions with authority figures. In all of his autobiography, he clearly mentions his personal values at the beginning of his period of exile from Italy, and he does so with powerful language: "It is difficult to find perfection among humankind: let us try to be good; let us teach the masses, as far as we can, the principles of justice and truth;; let us fight theocracy and tyranny, the embodiments of lies and evil, whatever form they take - but let us show compassion toward our own cruel human race, which among its other merits has the ability to generate on half of itself made up of emperors, kings, policemen and priests, who appear to be born with all the attributes of torturers for the glory and the good of the rest of us" (Garibaldi, page 48). From this quote we can clearly see that freedom, truth, and justice was the primary values of Garibaldi. This values are , in turn, aligned very closely with his organizational commitments and actions. From his book, it can inferred that he is always concerned for the safety and well being of his troops. From his oversight into obtaining a proper burial of comrade-in-arms, Anazini, to the constant references to the need to obtain proper clothing and food for his troops. Giuseppe displays a great hatred for his superiors when they do not deliver on their promise of clothing and food in exchange for troop movement during a battle in northern Italy.

As a military leader Giuseppe does a superb job of aligning his actions with his shared values. This is displayed several times, one of which is when he speaks of organizing the defense of Rome, "I preferred to march with my companions-in-ams" (Garibaldi, page 28). He always was on the forefront of battle with his soldiers, and on one occasion he raced to battle yelling out "Charge!" (Battle of Monterotondo). Every action he made reflected on his organizational value of freedom. He would say in his memoirs for each battle, this is goal in the freedom of Italy, and the country will no longer be looked on a place "Resort" and worship, and that Italy can become a powerful republican nation with respect to the other european countries.Inspire a shared vision

Garibaldi's vision is the true reason for his success as a leader. His vision is described in his memoirs: "The hope I had cherished for so many years revived: the hope of involving my fellow-countrymen in a guerrilla war which, in the absence of an organized army, by itself would lead on to the liberation of Italy..." (Garibaldi, page 11). Garibaldi's bold look for a future of a free Italy generated a cult following of volunteers from all over the world, and especially throughout Italy. As he entered a new city welcome wagons of volunteers greeted him. He was a man with a great hatred for horrible commanders. He spoke how that if he had been the man in charge of the Piedmontese army they would have "achieved miracles" (Garibaldi, page 15). When he spoke to the townspeople his powerful language evoked much emotion: "Palermo, Genoa, Milan, Brescia, Messina, Bologna, Casale! - when all the cities of Italy decide to treat the enemy as you did, then our land will truly be free and respected by all" (Garibaldi, page 69).

Using his volunteers as resources, Giuseppe was then able to enlist them into the ranks of his soldiers. He had a process of taking the over eighteen and above twenty-six year olds and putting them on the front lines. The rest were put in